13-Despair – Reversed Salem Deck

When reversed, the Death card suggests that you may be avoiding necessary change and transition. Clinging to the past is not productive in the long run. Aspects of your life that are stagnant or outworn must be discarded so that new growth can take place. Are you creating conditions inimical to the sprouting of new seeds in your life? If so, now is the time to summon the courage to face the unknown.

Keywords Reversed: Refusal to let go, stagnation, decay, procrastination, failing to sprout, clinging unproductively to the past, resisting necessary change, fear of the unknown.

Key XIII: Death
Myths/Archetypes: Osiris. Dionysus. The Angel of Death. The Eleusinian Mysteries. The phoenix myth. Transfiguration. Easter. The Resurrection.
Dates of Scorpio: 23 October–22 November (tropical); 16 November–15 December (sidereal)
Astrology: Scorpio, the Scorpion (a Water sign ruled by Mars and Pluto)
Numerology: 4 (Emperor) = 1 + 3 (Death) = 2 + 2 (The Fool)

Element: Water

When Despair is reversed you can pretty much take it that life is going well but that’s when life takes us by surprise.  If Despair is unclear it may help to choose a card from the Major Arcana to provide more insight into what it is Despair is trying to tell you.  If you had a particular issue in  mind, or want to seek clarification on something else, you can also choose again to get more guidance.

This chosen card is part of your reversed card reading for Despair using cards from the Salem Tarot Deck. You will find many more tarot pages that will be of great help if you need tarot card meanings. Use the search at the bottom of the page. We have some amazing tarot books for you to browse. Please see below.

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Here are some snippets from a few of my favorite books

Complete Book of Tarot: When using specific decks, however, such as the Crowley Thoth or the Liber T Tarot of Stars Eternal deck, it is best to follow the instructions of deck’s author in the Little White Book (LWB) that accompanies the deck. For example, the Golden Dawn Tarot deck by Robert Wang avoids the name ‘Knight’ entirely and uses the following designations for the court cards: Princess, Prince (in a chariot), Queen, and King (on horseback).

Tarot Books

Complete Book of Tarot: Fact 8: Hollywood movies suggest that the Death card almost inevitably foreshadows some character’s imminent demise. In real life, however, the Death card indicates an important transition, the closing of one chapter and the opening of another. Only rarely does it indicate a physical death. For example, a friend once asked me to read his cards, and the central card of his layout was Death. It made sense because he was in the midst of deciding whether to retire from his job and begin a new phase of his life as a retired person. Now, many years later, he is still alive and enjoying his retirement.

Tarot for Beginners: However, if the card is reversed, it could represent manipulation, poor planning, or even trickery. There may be others in the situation who don’t have your best interests at heart. Or, you may simply be suffering from a creative block.

• Do get in touch if you looked for Despair and we don’t have it listed. We would be more than happy to source the information for you. We hope you visit again for more online tarot information!

Development for Beginners: For ancient Egyptians, the Ka was very complex. It was comprised of the mortal body and eight additional semi-divine components, all of which survived after death.